'The Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci' exhibit now open at Pensacola Museum of Art

Courtesy of The Exhibition Alliance, Inc., Hamilton, NY. Flying machine, model from a sketch and notes by Leonardo da Vinci.

Who designed a helicopter and a tank over four hundred years before they came into general use? "The Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci," an exhibition on view at the Pensacola Museum of Art from January 19 to March 3 features sixteen contemporary models of mechanical devices conceived and designed by Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci. The fully operable models in the exhibition have been fabricated from Leonardo's own drawings, which were recorded in notebooks until his death in 1519.

His artist's eye and love of scientific inquiry prompted Leonardo to study the natural world and to apply the principles that he observed in nature to his inventions such as the "Flying Machine," inspired by the wing structure of a bird. "The Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci" illustrates how Leonardo's sixteenth-century conceptual drawings foreshadowed modern technology. Through models such as the "Hydraulic Screw" that prefigures the water turbine, and the "Variable Speed Drive," which is much like the transmission of the modern automobile, the exhibit demonstrates how Leonardo's drawings contained the guiding principles of many devices that revolutionized society and industry nearly four centuries later.

"The Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci" will be on exhibit at the Pensacola Museum of Art beginning January 19 and continuing through March 3. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for students and active military. Hours of operation are Tues. - Fri 10 am to 5 pm and Sat & Sun 12 pm to 5 pm. For more information, please visit www.pens a c o l a m u s e u m o f a r t . o rg www.pensacolamuseumofart.o rg or call 432-6247.

"The Inventions of Leonardo da Vinci" was donated to The Exhibition Alliance by the IBM Corporation. The exhibition is circulated by The Exhibition Alliance, Inc., Hamilton, N.Y.